ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: "...to become a painter"

Clive — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:29:42 GMT

Hi,
You could say 'I used to want to become a painter'.
Clive

Re: "...to become a painter"

New2grammar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:19:54 GMT

Peaceblinkfriend
Would 'I wanted to become a painter' be a strong enough utterance to accentuate the fact that 'I' no longer want to become a painter?

I don't think so. Unless the context makes it clear. You could say, I always wanted to become a painter but then I grew up and realized it wouldn't make a good living so I went to medical school and now I'm darn rich.

Re: "...to become a painter"

Peaceblinkfriend — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:14:00 GMT

Thanks for replying, CalifJim and Clive.

I will certainly heed your advice and work on Past Perfect.

Would 'I wanted to become a painter' be a strong enough utterance to accentuate the fact that 'I' no longer want to become a painter? If not, could you suggest what I should say to make that emphasis?

Thanks again

PBF

Re: "...to become a painter"

Clive — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:00:08 GMT

Hi,

I wanted to cook dinner. I had the desire to cook dinner some time in the past. Yes.

I had wanted to cook dinner. I had the desire to cook dinner a long time ago. No. The distance in the past is not important. The Past Perfect is used to show that an event happened in the past before some other event or point in the past.
eg At 7pm yesterday, I cooked dinner. I started to cook at 7pm.
eg At 7pm yesterday, I had cooked dinner. Dinner was ready by 7pm.

Now let's look at a few of your original examples.

I wanted to become a painter. OK. tells me about a past desire.

I had wanted to become a painter. You need to say this in a context where it is before some other time in the past.

eg After I graduated from college, I got a job as an accountant. I had wanted to become a painter, but I discovered that I had no talent. This tells about a desire that I had before I graduated from college.

So, you need to study and practice Past Perfect. Would you like to try to write and post a few sentences for us to comment on?
Best wishes, Clive

Re: "...to become a painter"

CalifJim — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:02:14 GMT

Peaceblinkfriend
Do they all mean the same thing?

Adding "once" doesn't change the meaning, but changing the tense does.

Peaceblinkfriend
do they sound like natural English to you?

Yes, except the last one, which seems awkward to me.

Re: "...to become a painter"

Peaceblinkfriend — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:25:18 GMT

I wanted to cook dinner. I had the desire to cook dinner some time in the past.

I had wanted to cook dinner. I had the desire to cook dinner a long time ago.

Is this the difference between the two sentences?

Thanks

PBF

Re: "...to become a painter"

Clive — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:25:28 GMT

Hi,
Let me begin by asking you to consider a couple of simpler examples.

I wanted to cook dinner.

I had wanted to cook dinner.

Do you understand the difference between these tenses?

Best wishes, Clive

"...to become a painter"

Peaceblinkfriend — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:13:32 GMT

I wanted to become a painter

I wanted to become a painter once

I had wanted to become a painter

I had wanted to become a painter once

I used to want to become a painter.

Do they all mean the same thing? And do they sound like natural English to you?

Thank you

PBF